Sometimes negative events in a person's life may affect his or hers lives dramatically and ultimately drive him or her to act irrationally or even insane. Usually there is a direct relationship where the affect is negative when the event that occurred in that person's life was negative. William Faulkner's central character, Emily, in "A Rose for Emily"ÃÂ is a typical example.

In Emily's case, the death of her father affected her significantly. All her life Emily had never experienced affectionate love. Her father, like Emily's great aunt Wyatt, probably had similar feelings about the status of being a Grierson. This however was not helpful to Emily. Her father constantly drove away the young men that were interested in her. There was never anyone good enough for his daughter. His feelings were probably stagnant about the family's once wealthy status. Emily's father seemed to be her only companion so far in life and even though his actions towards her such as shunning men away was cruel, he was all she had.

English: Emily Rose

English: Emily Rose

Homer Radioattivo: GhiradaBarcamp edition

Emily had to "cling"ÃÂ to that which she had been "robbed"ÃÂ, the most important person in her life, her father. In absolute denial, she refused to acknowledge to the town her father's death for three days. After his death, Emily was left alone and a pauper, the town felt she would now become "humanized."ÃÂ With her father no longer present, there would definitely be dramatic changes on her attitudes and outlooks. She "would now know the old thrill and the old despair of a penny or less."ÃÂ After her father's death she became sick and was seen very little.

Considering her past, the town was glad to that Emily had sought interest in Homer Barron, a construction company foreman. After all, they had never seen Emily...